The area's first Thorntons Inc. convenience store located at 1698 Gulf to Bay Blvd. in Clearwater will open Tuesday, making it the first of 15 to 20 new stores scheduled to open in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area in the coming three years.

The new store in Clearwater was scheduled to open at 5 a.m. An invitation-only ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Dec. 3 at 5 p.m. with guests including the members of the Clearwater Chamber of Commerce, Thorntons Chief Operating Officer Tony Harris, the Clearwater High School Jazz Band and Thorntons' mascots, Champ and Phil-UP, CSN News said.

Louisville, Ky.-based Thorntons Inc.'s store in Clearwater will be open 24 hours a day. At present, Thorntons has 166 gasoline stations, convenience stores, car washes and travel plazas in Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio Tennessee and Florida, CSN News said.